Fontana Auto Club Speedway Friday summary

HAMLIN SPEEDS TO POLE POSITION AT PEPSI 500 QUALIFYING
San Bernardino County, Calif. (Oct. 9, 2009) -- Denny Hamlin had the
best Friday of his season, and it couldn't have come at a better time
during qualifying for the Inaugural Chase for the...

HAMLIN SPEEDS TO POLE POSITION AT PEPSI 500 QUALIFYING

San Bernardino County, Calif. (Oct. 9, 2009) -- Denny Hamlin had the
best Friday of his season, and it couldn't have come at a better time
during qualifying for the Inaugural Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race
-- the Pepsi 500 at the Auto Club Speedway. Audrina Patridge of MTV's
"The Hills" will wave the Green Flag for the race Sunday at Noon PT.

Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota) took the pole position with the top
time of 183.870 mph around the two-mile oval, his first of the year. "It
definitely comes at a good time," Hamlin said. "You like to keep streaks
alive, and one is to have a pole each year. Qualifying has just been so
bad for us. It's picked up in the last couple months, but for the most
part, on Fridays, if we were 15th, we were happy."

Added Hamlin, who earned his seventh career pole and his first since
Richmond in 2008: "It was definitely a good run, a big pick-up for us.
We definitely didn't expect that after how poorly we practiced. The good
part is when you're that horrible in practice, you can throw anything at
it. That's what we did and just came up with a good setup."

David Reutimann (No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota) finished second
(183.108 mph) but was later moved to the 42nd position after NASCAR
officials disallowed his time as the result of a post-qualifying
infraction (exceeded gas levels in the rear shocks).

Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M/Scotch Blue Ford) had the third-fastest
qualifying lap (182.704 mph) but was moved up to the front row following
the announcement about Reutimann.

"It was a really good lap," Biffle said. "I was actually surprised
myself, really surprised, because we weren't that good in practice.
Right there at the end, we really were having a little bit of tough
times getting it going, so the team really looked at what everyone else
was doing and kind of reworked and really didn't know what to expect."

Juan Pablo Montoya (Target Chevrolet), third in points, qualified
fifth (but moved next to Johnson in the fourth spot. He finished with
an average speed of 182.315 mph, but damaged his car on his second
qualifying lap after scraping the wall.

Rookie Joey Logano (No. 20 Home Depot Toyota) was the top rookie
(182.223 mph, unofficial) to qualify on Friday.

In addition to world-class NASCAR racing, fans experiencing Auto Club
Speedway can also take advantage of free parking, bring in their own
food, or partake in the unbelievable menu items on site as well as other
cost-savings opportunities while enjoying a full day of entertainment
and fun at a fantastic family value.